New car rant

pishta said
Was responding to a new car issue and it went off the rails, decided it was better to just start a new low value thread.

Id never buy a new car or truck...again. Whats the upside? You got the new car smell and a warranty that's not worth squat.
Downside: You lost 30% when you drove it off the lot. Your tied to a 60-70 $400+/month payment and you have to keep enough insurance on it to please the bank who owns it before its paid off. Soft tires on new cars aren't worth 30k miles. Your in that new 60K car or truck about 3 hours a day and your driving next to other potentially uninsured people who dont give a **** and would ding your new ride with a shopping cart as easy as blowing their nose. You worry about scratches, mud puddles, dirty boots....wary of any creak or whine or whistle and are at the mercy of the dealership to either believe you, or take your car for 4-5 days to diagnose and maybe repair it or worse, give you the green weanie and tell you its not anything they can hear or fix. Whats the next recall for? They are only tools to get me from my house to work and back, not status symbols. My fun cars are all used, or built by me. Im aware of all the cosmetic dysfunctions, and they don't bother me unless I cant fix them, ie. paint. I find squeeks, ticks and vibrations a challenge. I scoff at the new car ads on TV. The new Mercedes or Audi or whatever the Kardashians are driving nowadays parked alone at an odd angle, always with the wheels cranked to one side in front of a posh restaurant, beach or some other hip joint, when in reality there are 6 of the same cars parked in the back next to all other forms of generic econo boxes. Face it, your brand new car is not that special, not that unique...they sold 17 that day that look exactly like yours and they are all parked in the same mall parking lot, stuck in the same traffic your stuck in, driving the same speed....My paid off POS Mazda pickup is ahead of you, Hows that 50K ride smelling?. Just a rant. Been there once, never again. 2-3 years old with a nice detail service and maybe 24k on it to work out the bugs is new enough for me, and its 30% off. Just let your new teen driver who's gonna buy their first 5 year financial prison sentence, ie. a new car, in on this secret: Buy used. They will thank you.

Gotta disagree with a lot of what you say. If you don't want to buy a new car, then don't. First, your new car does not depreciate 30 percent when you drive it off the lot. A $50K Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland does not drop to $35K. I recently bought a new Jeep Grand Cherokee. I am keeping my 2007 Grand Cherokee as my second car. New Car upsides for me:
1. I like driving a new car. It is a pleasure. If you don't enjoy it, that is fine.
2. Every time I buy a new car, it is nicer, better, more comfortable, and gets better gas mileage than the one before.
3. I like owning a car from the very beginning. I know exactly what has been done, and how well maintained the car is.
4. If you do some honest research, you will find that buying a new car and driving it 200K miles costs about the same as buying the same car used at 100K miles and driving it to 300K (including maintenance, insurance, etc.). The maintenance you will likely pay for during the last 100K miles 200K to 300K) will likely offset the difference in initial purchase price. And if the cost is about the same, I'll take the new car.

I don't 'Worry" about getting a scratch or dent. I take exceptionally good care of my cars. My 2007 Grand Cherokee could pass for a car that is only a few years old.
I disagree about your comments on tires. Unless you are buying a performance car with high performance soft tires, you are likely getting great modern radial tires with treadwear numbers above 500. We got Michelin tires on the new Jeep. I bet I get at least 60K out of them.

Overall, if you don't want to buy a new car, don't. But the rant threw out a lot of one sided arguments.

abodyjoe said
Screw that ****. I have a 80 Mile round trip for work and I'm using a modern, reliable, good on gas and safer car for that. Even though my Honda was new it doesn't have to be new. My last Toyota was slightly used when we bought it. Think it was a year old with 3000 miles on it. Was a demo. My old cars are toys and that's all. I can't be bothered having to constantly fix the old **** if used as a daily driver. If I only worked 5 miles away it may be different but that isnt the case. I like high 30's mpg. Anything less kills me paying for gas and gas is only going to go up and make it worse.

Agreed